Refrigerating apparatus



July 1, 1930. I HUB. HULL ET AL .RBFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Sept.n26 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet Z July 1, 1930. H, B, HULL ET AL 1 ,768,601

R-EFR IGERATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 26, 1925 ssheets-sheet s j H U E17 2 01 5 HHIUE HU/L 512v [/arsusElZ/HFREIZ 5; W a);

Patented July 1, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HARRY B. HULL Am) CLARENCE WARNER, or DAYTON, 01310, Assrcmons, BY MESNE assrenmnnrs, r0 rnIeInAmE CORPORATION, A CORPORATION or DELAWARE BEFRIGERATING APPARATUS v Application filed September 26, 192.3. Serial No. 664,827.

refrigerating machine of the compressor-v condenser-expander circuit type used in pri- -vate dwelling houses in which the condenser is cooled by air circulation.

Among the objects of the invention are,

to economize the space occupied by the means for cooling the condensing coil, compressor and motor, and to increasethe efiiciency of the cooling operation; to facilitate the assemblage of the refrigerating machine parts and prevent leakage of the refrigerant; to simplif the design; to quiet the running thereof; to automatically oil the; mechanism with certainty; and otherwise to improve the operation of apparatus of this type.

The invention consists in the combination-s, suit-combinations and elements described in the specification, illustrated in the drawings and defined in the appended claims. v p

In the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a refrigerator cabinet exposing. the interior thereof as viewed from the front, and showing a refrigerating apparatus constructed according to this invention disposed within Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22 of Fig. 1 throughportions of the back of the cabinetand a horizontal partition between the' storage compartment-and a machine compartment beneath it, this section having been taken in a plane at right angles to that of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the refrigerating f vided in compartment 13. An air entrance trated, 10 is a refrigerating cabinet of a t'ype adapted for hou' old use. It comprises a compartmen" at "for the storage of food, a compartmentiid? within the upper left hand portion of the food compartment inclosing a cooling element, and a compartment 13, below the food compartment, housing a refrigerating machine for producing low temperatures in the cooling compartment 12. As is customary, provision is made for the circulation of air between the cool-' ing compartment and the food compartment as by the air ports 14: and 15.1 Suitableshelving is fitted within the food compartment for supporting receptacles of food, or articles of food, as is customary in cabinets of this type. The outer casing of the cabinet 10, including the sides 17, top 17 back 17, bottom 17, and front (not shown) may be of wood, and the front, it will be understood, is intended to be fitted with doors or removable panels to afford access tothe interior of the several compartments as is customary in cabinets of this type. The hori .zontal partition between the compartments 11 and 13 may comprise a main floor 17 of wood supported 11 on wooden strips 17* secured to the inner aces of .,,l:he back, sides and front. Food compartment 11 is lined with a smooth, easily cleansable material 18, such as sheet metal, coated with vitreous enamel. Between the lining 18, the .floor 17 and the outer casing, are layers of heat insulating material 19, whichis preferably cork-board cemented to the lining, whereby exchange" of heat between the inside of the food compartment and-the exterior -'atmos phere is prevented or minimized. As the condenser of the refrigerating machine inclosed in compartment 13 is intended to be cooled by circulating currents of air drawn from the exterior of the cabinet, as will be explained hereinafter, 'openingsfor the entrance and escape of air currents. are pro:

is shownat 20 in the bottom 17, beyond that end of the refrigerating machine at which the condenser is located, and an air exit in the upper portion of compartment 13, at. 21 in the back 17. The entrance'may consist-of one or more holes 20 and the other, or otherwise forming the exit slot sd "in which the gas or vapor of a volatile liquid is compressed and condensed outside of the insulated compartment for food, conducted as a liquid to an expander or boiler disposed in the path of convection currents circulating through the food compartment where it is expanded again into a gas or vapor and then conducted back to the compressor in vapor form to be again condensed to a liquid. The compressor, its driving motor and the condenser, constituting a unit that has been herein referred to as the refrigerating machine, is installed within the compartment 13 as heretofore intimated.

The expander unit, or so called boiler, of known type, is supported within the compartment 12, and the circulating pipes from the machine unit to and from the expander unit pass back of the lining" 18 of the food compartment, between said lining and the back wall 17 b of the outer casing, emerging into compartment 12 through a hole 22 in the lining.

The refrigerating machine, housed within compartment 13, consists generically of a compressor or pump 23, the flanged hollow base 24 or crank case of which is secured to the bottom 17 of the cabinet, as by bolts 25;' a motor, *indicated as a whole by 26, supported by said base for operating said compressor; a heat interchanging coil constituting a condenser 27 supported by coilclamping standards 28 which rest upon and are secured to said bottom 17, and a fan 29 secured to the motor shaft and surrounded by the turns of the condensing coil 27. i

' The hollow compressor .base 24 is divided by an upright partition 30 into two chambers 31 and 32, the latter of which, particularly, is sealed against the entrance or escape of fluid exce ting by way of the closed circuit for the refrigerant. The upper end of chamber 32 in base 24 is covered by a casting 33 within which are formed two cylinder-chambers 34 in which are guided the valved pistons 54 of the compressor. The lower end of this cylinder casting is formed with a flange 35 which is secured, fluid tight, against a seat 36 at the upper end of chamber 32 'on base 24. Heat dissipating fins 37 of ordinary form project from the exterior of the cylinder casting. Seated over the upper end of the cylinder casting is a valve plate 38 provided with an outlet port for each cylinder chamber, said outlet ports being controlled by a resilient valve plate 40'held by a valve stop 41 that limits the extent the valves may open. Fluid forced upward through the ports 39 by the valved pistons enters a chamber 42 between the valve plate 38 and a super-posed head 43 having heat radiatin fins. Said plate 38 and super-posed hea 43 are bolted to the upper end of cylinder casting33 by bolts 43 in such manner as to seal the joints. A. valve body 44 of previously known construction is secured upon the head 43. This valve body has a passage 45, communicating with a port 46 which registers with an outlet 47 e from the chamber 42. One end of the condenser coil 27 is coupled to the valve body 44 at 48. Gas or vapor pumped into chamber 42 will therefore enter the condenser coil 27, and be condensed, thence pass to receiver 49 in liquid form, thence to pipe 50, thence into evaporating tank or header .51 and evaporator coil 52 of the expander or boiler unit where it will expand into vapor form and will return therefrom by way of pipe 53 and fitting 53 into chamber 32 beneath the valved pistons 54 of the compressor, which, in operation, will pumpit therefrom to the other sides of the pistons and force it into chamber 42 as described. The pistons 54 are pivoted to connecting rods 55, the lower ends of which have hearing around the eccentrics 56 keyed to compressor shaft 57.

Compressor shaft 57 passes through an opening 58 in partition 30 that is of considerably greater diameter than the shaft.

One end\of said shaft turns in a bearing hole' 59 in one side wall of the base 24, the outer end of said hole being closed by a screw plu 60. The other end of said compressor sha t enters a bearing socket 61 in the cen-' ter of a -cover plate'62, which is removably bolted to the base 24 so as to close an opening 63 within its side wall. The shaft 57 'has a worm gear 64 keyed to it within the chamber 31 between the partition 30 and the cover plate 62. Said opening 63 is slightly larger than worm gear 64. Thus the compressor shaft is j ournaled at its ends and all of the load thereon is carried between its bearings.

In order to seal the opening 58 in partitions 30 against the passage of fluid therethrough around the shaft 57, a shoulder having a ground surface is formed on the shaft at 65, and a collar 66 having a ground face in contact with said ground surfaces is fitted snugly around the shaft so that the shaft may rotate freely with respectto the collar. Also, collar 66 is sealed to oneend of a corrugated flexible tube or bellows 68, the other end of which is expanded or flanged and clamped fluid tight to the partition 30 by a centrallyiperforated plate 69,

secured by bolts 76 to the artition. A

spring 67 surrounds the sha and exerts pressure on the plate 69 and collar 66 to force the ground face of the latter against that of shoulder 65, thus effectively sealing the joint so as to prevent the escape of gas from chamber 32 around the shaft inside of the corrugated-tube or of 'air-or other fluid from chamber 31 in the opposite direction- Nor can any gas escape through the opening 58 outside of the corrugated tube by' reason of the hermetic sealing of said tube to collar 66 and to partition By removing cover plate 62 access may be had to worm wheel 64 which may be slipped off the shaft and removed through the opening; Therbolts 7 0 may then be removed and shaft 57 pulled endwise from the eccentric carrying with it the sealing means described,

and leaving the eccentric and connecting rods assembled within the chamber 32. These may be removed through the upper end of chamber 32 after unbolting the cylinder casting 33 and uncoupling the pipe connections.

.In order to rotate shaft 57 and thereby operate the compressor, a motor 26, preferably an electric motor of suitable type, having a field support and casing 71, is mounted upon the base 24. The casing 71 is se-' cured to said base at the-sideopposite the f condenser 27, and the armature is secured to one end of a motor or armature shaft 72,

journaled in bearings 73 and 74, formed in opposite sides of thebase 24, the centers of which lie in a plane at right angles to the bearings of said pum shaft 57, at a higher level, and are locate in opposite walls of compartment 31. Both bearingopenings 73 and 74 penetrate bosses which extend inward of the compartment 31, and are pro vided on their upper sides with oil holes 7 3 and 74". Shaft 72 carries, or has formed thereon, a worm 75 which is-of smaller or at least no greater diameter than that .portion of the shaft that rests in the bearing 73 so that the worm may be inserted or removed" bearing 74. The worm 75 meshes with the worm gear 64 and drives it when themotor operates. The extremity of shaft 72 remote from the motor is still further reduced at 77, protrudes beyond thebase 24 andcarries a fan .78.- Thus the fan and armature of the motor are arranged on opposite ends of the shaft which rests in bearing disposed between them. v

or disassembling.

position.-

The reduced protruding extremity 77 of said shaft 72 extend between two turns, more widely separated than the others, of the condenser coil 27 which, in this embodiment, is composed of superposed oblong turns arranged approximately in horizon-' tal position, and with their long axes at right angles to the axis of shaft 72. These turns, have, however, suflicient inclination to a' horizontal plane that the refri erant will drain to the receiver 49. The an or air impeller 29 is secured to the end of said shaft within the turns of the condenser. In this embodiment the fan has four blades. It is perforated in the center. The extreme end of the reduced part 77 of the shaft threaded and passed through the perforation in the fan. The fan is also riveted or otherwise secured to one end flange 78 of a hub 79 which is keyed to the reduced shaft end 77. The other end of the hub 79 car ries a flange 80 which bears against a was h- I er 81 disposed between it and the endof! a chambered boss 82 formed-around the shaftopening 74 on the base 24. A'nut 83 screwed on the threaded end of the motor shaft 72,

against one or more washers. disposed between it'and the fan, may serve to draw The coil 27 which may be made of copper tubing, is supported, as heretofore'stated,

by supporting members, each comprising a standard 28 and a batten 28% The standards 28 may conveniently consist of proper lengths of pipe screwed to base fittings 28 and located at the ends of thelongaxis of the oblong or oval coil on the inside. A'- batten 28 islplaced parallel with each standard on the outside of the coil and clamping the battens, betweenturns' of the coil and screwed into the standards at suitable inter- 4 vals' of'space so that the turns of vthe coil may be'firmly clamped to the standards.

A filling strip 28 of some yieldable mate- :11 5 rial, such as cork, is preferably interposed between each standard and the turns of the coil and between each batten and the turns of the coil. By this'means inequalities-in position or cross sectional form or 'dimen- 1- -0 sions of the several turns of the coil are compensated for by the strips of yielding material so that it is not necessary to secure each turn individually to' the standard in order to hold turns in the required position 2 and maintain their capacity to drain'toward the receiving tank 49. A 'few bolts 28", even two, ifthe batten is sufliciently still, will clamp all turns. of the coil fixedly in bolts 28' are passed at intervals through no Surrounding the reduced part 77 of the shaft 72 within the chamber in boss 82, which constitutes an oil collecting well, and adjacent the shoulder made by this reduced portion, is an oil stop ring 84, which is spaced from the washer 81 by suitable spacing rings 85. An oil duct 86 leads from the oil well or chamber within the boss into chamber 31 which is intended to contain enough oil to partially submerge gear 64; but not to reach the level of the bearings. The top or roof of compartment 31 extends over the shaft 72 and near enough to it so that oil lifted by gear 64 and transferred to worm 75 will be thrown on to the under side of said top when the motor is operating. A rib 87 may be formed on the under side of this top directly over and longitudinal of shaft 72. Near its ends this rib inclines downward toward two points 88, which, in this instance, are the ends of screws 89 that register with the described oil holes 73 and 74 in the bearing bosses 73 and 7 1. The rib 87 serves as a guide along which oil thrown upward from the worm 75 creeps to the points 88 which divert it and from which it drops into the oil holes beneathand lubricates the bearings; The oil'stop-ring 84 will deflect oil flowing through the bearing toward the fan into the oil well within boss 82 whence it flows into the chamber 31. The oil in chamber 31 also lubricates the bearing of the pump shaft at 61.

Oil for lubricating the pump pistons, connecting-rod eccentric bearings and one bearing of the compressor shaft chamber 32.

Both chambers 31 and 32 are so designed is carried in and constructed that sufiicient oil for thorough lubrication of all moving parts may be maintained without carrying the oil level above any bearing, as indicated in Figs. 4 and5.

The cycle of operation is generically the same as in all refrigerating machines of this type. Assuming the circulatory system to have been charged with the proper quantity of refrigerant, suchas sulphur di-oxide, and the motor started, the operations of the compressor will produce a relatively low. pressure in the expander unit or boiler and in the conductor pipe 53 leading therefrom to the chamber beneath the compressor pistons and will produce a relatively high pressure in the condenser 27, receiver 49 and conductor pipe 50 leading from the receiver to the expander or boiler. The motor is so designcd'that the motor shaft rotates in a counter clockwise direction as viewed from the left hand side of Figs.- 1, 3 and 5. The fan therefore rotates in such a direction that, with the blades inclined as in this type of apparatus.

7 the right in Figs. 1, 3 and 5) of the turns of coil 27 is drawn into the fan and sent at relatively high velocity against and between the turns at the left hand side of the coil (as viewed in Figs. 1, 3 and 5) and then against and around the compressor 23 and motor 26 in succession to extract heat from them. The inlet'2O is placed advantageously for drawing cold air from the lowest and coldest stratum in the room in which the apparatus stands, and permitting it to flow thence over and between the outer turns of the coils 27 before it has extracted heat from any other part-of the apparatus. lVhen the air current reaches the inner turns ofthe coil it will have absorbed some heat from the outer turns but its increased velocity will correspondingly increase the rapidity with which it extracts heat from the inner turn, since the heat absorbing effect is a function of thevelocity of the current. The air current then passes, as stated, over the compressor and motor, absorbs more heat and, rising toward the upper part of the compartment 13, escapes through the outlet slot 21. The copper tubing of the condenser may advantageously be approximately one quarter inch size. This size has been arrived at by balancing the increased heat exchanging capacity of the smaller sizes of tubing against increased resistance and greater relative cost of the smaller sizes. The size suggested has been selected as the most efficient consistent with economical cost of manufacture and operation. The pressure of the pistons upon the vaporous refrigerant drawn into the compressor chamber together with the cooling effect of the air currents liquefies the refrigerant so that the receiver 49 and pipe 50 will contain refrigerant in liquid state which boils and vaporizes in the expander or boiler and is returned therefrom to the compressor in a state of gas or vapor.

No oiling is necessary other than to charge the chambers 31 and 32. Some oil will be carried with the circulating refrigerant through the circulatory system as is usual The chamber 32 may be charged with oil, if desired, through the return port for the refrigerant after removal of the fixture 53, or filled through the top of said chamber when the cylinder casting is unbolted, or through the drawn. Oil may be placed in chamber 31 through one of the'holes plugged by screws. 89, or through an oil port (not shown) pro-' vided in cover plate 62.

- Rotation of the motor shaft 72 imparts rotation to worm 75, which, in turn, rotates the worm gear 64 and pump shaft 57, to which the Worm gear is keyed, thereby imparting movement to eccentrics 56 and operating the pistons 54 with a minimugg of noise because of the character of the gear- 7 I I ing, and the fact that all gears and moving parts are completely inclosed and are well oiled. a

Although I have described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that modifications may be made Within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the principles thereof.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

" 1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in combination a compressor, a shaft for driving the compressor, the shaft passing through the compressor and extending be yond the compressor on opposite sides thereof, a motor for driving the compressor mounted at one side of the compressor on through the condenser then over the compressor and finally over the motor.

2. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a compressor havinga crankcase, a partltion divldlng said crankcase 1nto a refrigerant .chamber and a transmission chamber, a compressor shaft j ournaled in the crankcase and passing through the partition, the ends of the shaft being disposed entirely within the crankcase, means for sealing the compressor shaft to the partition, a second shaft passing through the transmission chamber and extending on opposite sides of the crankcase,

speed reducing power transmitting means oonnecting'said shafts within the transmission chamber, a high speed motor mounted on the second shaft at one side of the crankcase, a high speed fan' mounted on the other side of the compressor on said second shaft,

I and a condenser comprising a coil of tubing disposed entirely at one side of the com-' pressor and surrounding the fan to provide a fan guard, the parts being constructed and arranged to circulate air currents first en tirely. through the condenser then over the compressor and finally over the motor.

In testimony whereof we hereto afiix our signatures. i

HARRY B. HULL. I CLARENCE WARNER. 

